The following is a press release:
The Central New York Community Foundation has accepted Baltimore Woods into its Performance Management Learning Community and provided $15,000 in funding to further develop Baltimore Woods’ evaluation process for its award-winning Nature in the City program.

Nature in the City is Baltimore Woods Nature Center’s K-6 science education program that links twelve Syracuse and Auburn city schools with local parks and green spaces, connecting children to science using their own neighborhoods. Children learn by doing, from collecting samples of invertebrates from city streams, to observing birds in parks within walking distance of schools.

The grant will allow Baltimore Woods to collect more robust data about how students increase their understanding of key science benchmarks as a result of Nature in the City lessons.“Our data for the 2011/12 school year, for example, indicates that 3rd grade students’ knowledge of green infrastructure increased by 35 percent on average in seven Syracuse schools. This is terrific news, but our testing protocols did not result in usable data from the more disadvantaged schools we reach, and we are committed to continuous improvement in ALL schools we serve," said Patty Weisse, Baltimore Woods’ executive director.
Weiss added, "With this support from the Central New York Community Foundation, a more comprehensive understanding of our impact should now be possible."

Nature in the City is supported through funding from the Syracuse City School District, Onondaga County’s Save the Rain Program, Constellation Energy, Dominion Transmission, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, The Gifford Foundation, the Lockheed Martin Employee Federated Fund, Lockheed Martin MS2, The Maxwell School’s Council of Young Philanthropists, National Grid, O’Brien and Gere, SRC, Inc. and Time Warner.

Baltimore Woods Nature Center is located at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, NY 13108 Hours: Interpretive Center is open M-F 9am-4pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, closed Sundays. The hiking trails and parking are free and open every day from dawn to dusk. Visit the nature center's website for more information.